Category: Topics (All Other)

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Area 51: Collecting Memories after 47 years of Secrecy

Communities of Practice, Military, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

Originally published March 27, 2010
By Erik Lacitis

Seattle Times staff reporter

Read the full article

VANCOUVER, Wash. — After nearly five decades, guys like James Noce finally get to tell their stories about Area 51.

Yes, that Area 51.

The one that gets brought up when people talk about secret Air Force projects, crashed UFOs, alien bodies and, of course, conspiracies.

The secrets, some of them, have been declassified.

Noce, 72, and his fellow Area 51 veterans around the country now are free to talk about doing contract work for the CIA in the 1960s and '70s at the arid, isolated Southern Nevada government testing site.

Their stories shed some light on a site shrouded in mystery; classified projects still are going on there. It's not a big leap from warding off the curious 40 or 50 years ago, to warding off the curious who now make the drive to Area 51.

The veterans' stories provide a glimpse of real-life government covert operations, with their everyday routines and moments of excitement.

Noce didn't seek out publicity. But when contacted, he was glad to tell what it was like.

“I was sworn to secrecy for 47 years. I couldn't talk about it,” he says.

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CrisisWatch Updates & Database

CrisisWatch reports, Threats

CrisisWatch is a 12-page monthly bulletin designed to provide busy readers in the policy community, media, business and interested general public with a succinct regular update on the “state of play” in all the most significant situations of conflict or potential conflict around the world.

Click here to view the full PDF of CrisisWatch N°79, 1 March 2010
To view a summary of this month's CrisisWatch click here.

Click here to access the CrisisWatch database, which allows users to search our archive of the current and all past editions of CrisisWatch by conflict/country or by keyword.

Click Here for Email Subscription

Related:
OSS/Earth Intelligence Network archive graveyard (very partial recovery) of free Public Daily Briefs/Weekly updates entitled GLOBAL CHALLENGES: THE WEEK IN REVIEW–Destabilizing Threats, Stabilizing Policies, and Global Powers at a Glance.

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Court Decision (NOT Congress Oversight) Declared NSA Warrantless Wiretapping Illegal

09 Justice, Civil Society, Communities of Practice, Government, Law Enforcement, Media, Military, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

Court document: Alharamain versus National Security Administration

(From Secrecy News)
WARRANTLESS SURVEILLANCE OF CHARITY RULED UNLAWFUL

Warrantless surveillance of an Islamic charity in Oregon in 2004 violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a court ruled (pdf) on March 31.

In the culmination of a four-year lawsuit, Judge Vaughn Walker of the Northern District of Columbia found that the government had unlawfully intercepted international telephone conversations of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation without a warrant, as required by the FISA for intelligence and counterterrorism surveillance.  The government had contended that the state secrets privilege barred a resolution of the case, but the court found that the defendants were able to make their case without the use of state secrets.

At least by implication, the ruling means that aspects of President Bush's Terrorist Surveillance Program were illegal.  Significantly, that determination was made by a court, based on a private complaint years after the fact, and not through congressional intelligence oversight.  While Congress did enact the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which was the foundation of the court's ruling, contemporary congressional oversight alone would have left the Al-Haramain violation (and untold others) undiscovered and unpunished.
Continue reading “Court Decision (NOT Congress Oversight) Declared NSA Warrantless Wiretapping Illegal”

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Fascinating Video (Brief) Overview of pre & post September 11, 2001 Circumstances + Two Part Radio Series on 9/11 Commission

09 Terrorism, 9/11 research, Communities of Practice, Government, Media, Military, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Videos/Movies/Documentaries
CONNECT THE DOTS

Part One
Part Two

Multiple language transcription/subtitles are needed for videos like this.  For more extensive videos related to 9/11, download this link table.

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Related:

Expert Witness Radio with Mike Levine says these are the most important shows he's ever done. Below are the mp3's.

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Banksterism: Total Wall Street Bailout Cost, Financial Crisis Tracker

03 Economy, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commerce, Government, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth
Financial Crisis Tracker
Center for Media and Democracy's Financial Crisis Portal

The Wall Street Bailout Cost table is produced and updated monthly by the Real Economy Project of the Center for Media and Democracy, which publishes SourceWatch. The total is reflected on the Financial Crisis Tracker widget (to the left). This calculation was peer-reviewed by economists at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. This table represents a unique accounting of actual funds disbursed. Our total includes major programs of the U.S. Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and other government agencies to assist the financial sector and institutions that had a role in the crisis. It does not include stimulus funds, unemployment, student loans, auto bailout and other initiatives to create jobs or support citizens.

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